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Nottingham Forest v Leeds United
This match has not been played. Everything below is pre-match editorial published on 2026-08-14; there is no result, lineup or statistic to report yet. Team news is only shown where a club or official source has confirmed it.
Oliver Glasner starts at Forest against a more settled Leeds side led by Daniel Farke.
Forest finished 16th while reaching the Europa League semi-finals; Leeds finished 14th in their second season back.
This is the most evenly balanced head-to-head in the round, to a degree that looks almost engineered.
One source counting 36 meetings since 1996 has it at twelve wins each and twelve draws — a perfectly even split across three decades. Another, counting 25 matches, gives Forest 10, Leeds 8 and seven draws. Whichever window you take, neither side holds a meaningful edge.
Last season made the point again. Forest won 3-1 at the City Ground in November 2025; Leeds won 3-1 at Elland Road in February 2026. Same scoreline, both at home, honours even.
Given the two clubs finished 16th and 14th, three points apart, an evenly split head-to-head and a pair of matching home wins is about as clear a signal as historical data can give: this fixture is usually decided by where it is played, and it is being played at the City Ground.
- Leeds United 3-1 Nottingham Forest — Premier League, 6 February 2026. Bogle, Okafor and Calvert-Lewin scored; Lucca replied late.
- Nottingham Forest 3-1 Leeds United — Premier League, 9 November 2025. Sangaré, Gibbs-White and an Anderson penalty; Nmecha had opened the scoring.
- Nottingham Forest 0-2 Leeds United — pre-season friendly, July 2023.
- Leeds United 2-1 Nottingham Forest — Premier League, April 2023.
- Nottingham Forest 1-0 Leeds United — Premier League, February 2023.
- Both league meetings last season finished 3-1 to the home side.
Last season's league record, as a baseline rather than a prediction.
Nottingham Forest finished 16th in 2025/26 on 44 points (11W 11D 16L, 48 scored, 51 conceded). Leeds United finished 14th in 2025/26 on 47 points (11W 14D 13L, 49 scored, 56 conceded).
BRYME is not publishing home-only and away-only splits for these sides yet. Those figures exist but have not been reconciled against an official source here, and a split quoted from memory is exactly the kind of number that quietly becomes wrong. The overall records above are verified against the final 2025/26 table; the home and away breakdowns will be added when sourced.
Provisional: Leeds carried concerns around Jaka Bijol, Daniel James and Lukas Nmecha. Forest availability was not confirmed in the supplied snapshot.
No suspensions affecting either side have been confirmed for this fixture at the time of writing.
This is a statement about what has been confirmed, not a guarantee that both squads are fully available. Bans carried over from last season and any late disciplinary decisions are checked again on matchday, and this section is updated if that changes.
Glasner’s more attacking, possession-oriented reputation meets Farke’s established unit.
Forest enter with a fifth head coach in 12 months, while Leeds have greater continuity.
Forest finished 16th on 44 points, Leeds 14th on 47 — three points and two places apart, both closer to the relegation conversation than to Europe.
The underdog framing barely applies. What is verifiable is that Leeds drew 14 matches last season, more than any other side in the division, and Forest lost 16. One team struggled to convert control into wins; the other struggled to stay in games. Which of those is the harder problem to fix over a summer is a fair question, and the opening day will not answer it.
Forest’s attacking ceiling is higher, but early cohesion is the swing factor.
Nottingham Forest 2–1 Leeds United
Sources: 2025–26 Premier League final table (Wikipedia) · NBC Sports — Premier League 2025-26 final table · Nottingham Forest v Leeds United head-to-head (FootyStats) · Leeds United — match report, Leeds 3-1 Nottingham Forest